Romani and Ukrainians in the Czech-Slovak media

This thesis examines the media representation of Roma and Ukrainians in selected Czech and Slovak news websites between 24 August 2021 and 24 August 2022, a period encompassing both the months preceding the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent phase marked by the outbreak of war and the refugee crisis. The aim of the thesis is to systematically describe and compare the media images of both groups with regard to thematic focus, dominant interpretative frames, the presence of stereotyping elements, and the application of news values, both across individual media outlets and in a comparative perspective between the Czech and Slovak media environments. Methodologically, the thesis is based on a quantitative content analysis of text-based news articles published by six online media outlets (iRozhlas, SeznamZprávy, Blesk, RTVS, Aktuality, Pluska). The selection of articles was conducted using the constructed week sampling method, which allows for the identification of structural patterns in media production while maintaining a manageable analytical corpus. The coding scheme was designed to operationalise key theoretical concepts from media studies and sociology, particularly framing, news values, and stereotyping, in a form suitable for quantitative analysis. The findings...